


A Foxy Problem

by ScrollingKingfisher



Series: Gabriel Monthly Challenges [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Child Neglect, Creature Gabriel (Supernatural), Fluff, Gen, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Kitsune
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 05:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12204393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrollingKingfisher/pseuds/ScrollingKingfisher
Summary: In general, Gabriel avoided hunters. Pranking humans wasn’t so fun when there was a chance that it might end with a stake in your back, even for an older, more cunning kitsune like he was. However, sometimes he had to make an exception to the rule. John Winchester was that exception.Or, Gabriel tries to get a little revenge, and ends up with more than he bargained for.





	A Foxy Problem

**Author's Note:**

> As always, A big thank you to my beta, @theriverscribe, you're the best!! <3 <3
> 
> Based around this month's prompt, 'He could hear him banging around in the kitchen, probably making a mess'. Comments and kudos always welcome!

 

 

In general, Gabriel avoided hunters.

 

They weren’t worth the hassle. Pranking humans wasn’t so fun when there was a chance that it might end with a stake in your back, even for an older, more cunning kitsune like he was. He wasn’t going to give them the opportunity to pin all nine of his tails to their wall, even if some of the more sanctimonious ones were just begging for a lesson in humility.

 

However, sometimes he had to make an exception to the rule. John Winchester was that exception.

 

Gabriel had been more than willing to leave the man be. He hadn’t even been tricking the hunter. He’d been minding his own business, pulling a prank on three of the local douchebags when Winchester had showed up in town and started harassing him.

 

And okay, so sometimes he took his pranks a little too far on the harmful side of things. And sometimes they went wrong. And there was that time when he accidentally pranked that lady's twin sister. That didn't mean he was inherently evil!

 

But apparently that didn't mean anything to John-frickin-Winchester. Because before he knew it the guy was tailing him across town, and seeing as he could teleport, that was no mean feat. Within a day and a half the hunter had found his two temporary dens. Not his main one yet, thankfully, that had too many layers of protection. But still, that was getting uncomfortably close. John Winchester deserved to be taught a lesson not to mess with things that didn't concern him.

 

Which was how Gabriel found himself lurking in the shadows outside the motel room where Winchester was saying. His info said that he had a kid as well (Gabriel wondered how raising a five-year-old fit into the hunting lifestyle), but the tyke should be at school at this time. He raised his sharp snout into the air; nope, no one in. Perfect.  

 

Looking at the motel, it seemed even more run down than what hunters usually went for. And that was saying something. He sniffed experimentally and grimaced at the odour of mould, rust and neglect that lingered around the place, even more potent in his fox form than it would have been in his human one. But nevertheless, it was time for Winchester’s day of reckoning. He would rue ever setting eyes on Gabriel.

 

The wards were almost too easy to get through. One little nudge and they snapped like wet paper towels, letting him sneak through the door, invisible to passers by.

 

Gabriel slunk silently into the room, his paws making less noise than a mouse as he padded gently across the faded carpet. The curtains were drawn, and the low light made the room look even gloomier than it was already, but Gabriel’s sharp night vision let him pick out the details. He glanced over the unmade beds, the guns, the wall covered in newspaper and string, the rest of the hunter’s paraphernalia littered across the room. He wrinkled his sensitive nose at the smell of cheap whisky and gunpowder.

 

What should he do first? Should he start with the full-out chaos, or something more subtle? He could always switch around all those map pins, that would throw him off the scent for a while. Gabriel licked his sharp canines and contemplated, one foot raised delicately.

 

Just as he was thinking, he heard a rustle. He whipped around, all his tails bristling out in aggressive display, a snarl already on his face. His eyes locked on his target, his magic tensed and ready to land a deadly blow, and then he froze.

 

On the floor, between the two beds, there was a baby.

 

Round hazel eyes were watching him curiously, without a hint of fear. The fine, wavy brown hair on his head was matted into a cows lick over his forehead. The boy could only have been a year old. At the sight of Gabriel, his chubby face split into a beaming grin, displaying a mouth full of pearly milk teeth.

 

“‘Ox! ‘Ox!”

 

The toddler pulled himself up on the nearest bed and tottered forwards unsteadily towards where Gabriel was still watching, dumbstruck. The kid made it most of the way towards him but then he tripped over the toes of his onesie, tiny arms windmilling. Before Gabriel could even think about it his tails had whipped around to cushion the kid’s fall. He frowned down at his wayward appendages in confusion as they curled around the boy like a red-gold fluffy cloak.

 

Not seeming the least put off the toddler squealed happily, grabbing hold of one thick tail. Gabriel winced. Carefully, he extricated himself from the grasp of tiny fingers before transforming back into his human form in a flurry of fur.

 

“Okay, kiddo, no more of that.”

 

He bent down, pulling the boy up to his eye level by the armpits, much to his squeals of delight. Gabriel smiled back, helpless. The kid’s laughter was infectious.

 

There was something bothering him, though. This was definitely John Winchester’s room. There was no way it could have been anyone else’s. He had double checked. He had known about the first kid, Don or something? Dean? Dean, that was it. So how had he not known about the second son?

 

He shook his head. Okay, Gabriel, focus. Put down the baby. Get back to work. He had a hunter to inconvenience.

 

But as soon as he put the kid down, those huge eyes filled with tears and the kid let out a wail of misery that could have put a banshee to shame. Gabriel scooped the kid up again, desperately shushing as he tried to get the little brat to quiet down. He couldn’t have the neighbours trying to break in to see what the noise was.

 

He took a better look at the gloomy room as he walked up and down, gently bouncing the kid. The more he saw, the more the bad feeling he had about this whole situation grew. The odour to rot and mound lay heavy under the other hunter smells, as well as- now he was closer- the unmistakable odour of a filled diaper.

 

What kind of monster left the kid in a decrepit motel all day, no food, no water, sitting in his own filth? There was no doubt, this was neglect. And it looked as though this was hardly a one-off issue either. The room was full of things that were more than hazardous to a human toddler. There were knives on the table, for god’s sake.

 

This was so far past wrong. Gabriel thought for a second, looking down. The kid yawned widely, tangling chubby fingers in his jacket, and he felt his heart swell warm and solid as a glowing coal lodged in his chest. He couldn't leave the poor little tyke here.

 

He could call human social services. Unfortunately, he hadn't heard great things about them. The ankle biter would probably be dumped in some crappy group home somewhere. His older brother, too. And it was unlikely they’d let them stay together. Or…

 

There was another option.

 

“Okay, buddy, you’re coming with me,” Gabriel murmured quietly, hoisting the sleeping kid more securely onto his hip. Kidnapping wasn't usually his gig, but this was less of a kidnapping and more of a rescue.

 

Quickly, before he could change his mind, he strode over to the door. He peeked out. There was a couple unpacking their car in the lot, a cleaner two doors down. As casually as he could, Gabriel strolled across the blacktop and into the woods on the other side. Nobody even glanced his way.

 

.o0o.

 

A trip to supermarket sorted the diaper issue, and baby food, and everything else that wasn't on Gabriel's usual shopping list. It was a slightly surreal experience, stealing from the baby aisle rather than the one holding all the candy. After that, it had taken him over three hours to baby-proof his den. Why did babies feel the need to stick their fingers into plug sockets? It was like kids were _trying_ to die or something.

 

The problem, he contemplated while watching the toddler happily ricochet off his furniture, was what to do about the other one. If he was going to do a good job here he should really get the both of them. Collect the whole set of baby Winchesters.

 

“What do you say, kiddo? Shall we rescue your brother from that hellhole?”

 

“Aaaaahhhhhh!” Said the kid, beaming and holding up a bouncy ball for him to inspect before running off to another room. Gabriel grinned after him.

 

“Just what I was thinking.”

 

Besides, he persuaded himself as he hacked the street cameras, the more kids he rescued now the fewer there would be trying to pin his tails to the wall in fifteen years’ time. Yeah. That was totally why he was doing this.

 

Well, at least the one he had now was having a good time. Gabriel could hear him banging around in the kitchen, probably making a mess with the play-dough he’d given him to keep him entertained. Getting hold of his brother, however, was going to be more difficult.

 

.o0o.

 

Gabriel went back to the motel that evening, leaving the kid tuckered out at home. With a flick of his tails he was invisible, carefully tucking himself under the windowsill to listen in on the conversation going on in the room.

 

“But Dad, what about Sammy?” The voice was young, high; definitely Dean. So the kid’s name was Sammy, huh?

 

An irate sigh, then a gruff voice said, “Dean, I've told you already. Your brother’s the one lead I have on this thing. We need to use him to draw it out.”

 

Gabriel's whiskers quivered with indignation. What kind of being would just give up on his kits like that? The boy had only been gone hours! Any other parent would have been combing the place for him, but apparently Winchester had stopped low enough to use his own brats as bait.

 

“But dad, what if he kills him?”

 

“He’ll be fine, but we have to use our heads about this, Dean. That's your brother’s best chance. Anyway, kitsunes don't hurt kids.”

 

Yeah, thought Gabriel, but what if I did? Not that he ever would, of course. The midget already had Gabriel wrapped around his little finger. But Winchester senior obviously thought it was a risk worth taking that Gabriel was definitely a kitsune and not some other type of baby-eating shapeshifter. He supposed that waiting for him to emerge was the most logical thing to do in the situation, but that was the thing. Humans weren't meant to be logical, not when their young were involved. It gave him chills to hear John talking about his own son so dispassionately.

 

“We’re hunting the creature my way, Dean, and that's final. It's not just Sammy’s life on the line, remember? You wouldn't want anyone else to die, would you?”

 

Dean muttered something else, but Gabriel had heard enough. If John Winchester cared that little about his second kid, then he couldn’t care that much about Dean either. He sat back on his hind paws and waited.

 

Sure enough, Dean emerged from the room not too much later, change jingling in his hand and a stressed frown on his face. Gabriel quickly manifested his human form next to the can machine.

 

“Psst, kid. Dean.”

 

Dean tensed, his skinny shoulders hunching as he turned. Gabriel saw him reaching for the back of his waistband, and really, what kind of parent have their five-year-old a knife? Not that it would do anything to Gabriel.

 

“How do you know my name?” Already suspicious. Good- that would serve him well in their world.

 

“I'm someone who wants to help.”

 

He saw a flash of fear on the boy’s face. He bit his lip, eyes darting nervously. “You're not gonna tell the other people about us, are you?”

 

Social services, Gabriel guessed. So he wasn't the first to have noticed.

 

Gabriel decided to drop the act. At least this would make things simpler. “No, I'm not.” He relaxed his human form a little, letting his ears grow pointed and tufted. The shadows of his tails swished behind him, stirring the air with their half-condensed shadows.

 

The boy’s eyes went wide, then his frown grew deeper as he pulled the knife out. “You're that kitsune dad’s been hunting.”

 

Gabriel whistled, holding his hands up. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Dean just glared at him harder. “Look, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you or your brother. Kitsune, remember? I don't hurt kids. But your dad isn't fit to look after a goldfish, never mind two children. But I bet you know that already, don't you? It's been you who's been looking after him, isn't it?”

 

The kid puffed out his skinny chest. “I can take care of Sammy!”

 

“I bet you can, Deano. Not arguing that. But you shouldn't have to. And what's Sammy gonna do now that you have to be at school all day, huh?”

 

Dean was quiet, biting his lip.

 

Gabriel could feel John’s life force moving around in the motel room. It was only a matter of time before he came to see why it was taking the kid so long to buy a can of pop. He had to settle this fast. “Here's the deal, Dean. You can go back to your dad, I won't stop you. But Sammy can't stay here, he's coming with me. Or, you can come with me too. What do you say?”

 

Gabriel could literally see the thoughts floating around the boy’s head, wisps of _don’t wanna_ and _but Sammy_. Finally, he came to a decision.

 

“I'm coming with you.” Then he fixed Gabriel with a glare so dark that he almost felt threatened. “But if you hurt Sammy, I’m gonna gank you.” The kid would have been one hell of a terrifying hunter.

 

Gabriel shrugged. “Fair enough. Alright, hold tight, kid.”

 

He grabbed the boy by the shoulder and snapped his fingers, warping the world until they touched down in his den.

 

Dean immediately staggered away from him, disorientated. Sammy looked up, chocolate spread smeared over his entire body, and let out an excited shriek.

 

“De’!”

 

“Sammy!”

 

Dean rushed forwards to his brother, hugging him with skinny arms. Gabriel couldn't help grinning at them. Human children were adorable. Already he could feel himself becoming attached to them. It had been too long since Gabriel had had kits.

 

Dean didn't trust him yet of course; he hadn't expected him to. Trust had to be earned. That would come eventually. First things first, he’d have to move the entrance to his den. He couldn't have John Winchester finding them.

 

He was going to raise these two right.

 


End file.
